Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Richard W. Fisher, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, will visit the Hilltop Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 to discuss the Texas economy, federal monetary policy and his own unusual life story.

Fisher became president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in 2005. In this role, he serves as a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve’s principal monetary policymaking group. He served as assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury during the Carter administration, working on issues related to the dollar crisis of 1978-79.

As deputy U.S. trade representative with the rank of ambassador from 1997-2001, Fisher oversaw the implementation of NAFTA and various agreements with Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Chile and Singapore. He was also a senior member of the team that negotiated the bilateral accords for China’s and Taiwan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

A first-generation American, Fisher is fluent in Spanish and English, having spent his formative years in Mexico. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1967-69, graduated with honors from Harvard University in economics in 1971, and read Latin American politics at Oxford in 1972-73. He received his M.B.A. degree from Stanford University in 1975.

In 2006, Fisher received the Service to Democracy Award and Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Public Service from the American Assembly. In 2009, he was inducted into the Dallas Business Hall of Fame.

A longtime friend of the University, Fisher has served on the Cox School Associate Board and the Tower Center Board of Directors, as well as the Dedman College Campaign Committee during The Campaign for SMU.

To commemorate the anniversary of its founding 100 years ago with the support of Dallas, SMU has prepared a report detailing the impact of the University on the city as a return on investment.

Titled “Dallas and SMU: The Power of Partnership” (smu.edu/impact), the report was summarized by SMU President R. Gerald Turner at a presentation Tuesday, April 17, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Attendees included nearly 400 area business and civic leaders. Richard Fisher, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, made welcoming remarks. In addition, the event included remarks by SMU Board Chair Caren Prothro and trustees Carl Sewell, Ray L. Hunt, and Michael Boone, vice chair of the SMU Board and chair of the Community Relations Committee of SMU’s Centennial commemoration, which will culminate in 2015, the centennial of the University’s opening.

Information in the report ranges from the regional economic impact of SMU to changes in the student profile, along with research, cultural resources, public service and integration of community service into coursework.

“As part of our Centennial commemoration, we felt it was important to evaluate and highlight the return on investment Dallas has received by supporting the establishment of SMU 100 years ago,” said President Turner. “We hope the report provides a meaningful snapshot of our contributions, measured not only in financial terms but also in intellectual capital. Our goal is to continue to give back to the region that has helped to make SMU a national university worthy of this great city. We celebrate this productive partnership.”

Impact of $861 million for the 2010-11 academic year from expenditures for the University’s operations and capital projects; spending by students, parents and visitors drawn to the region because of the University; and SMU expenditures for student scholarships. This impact supports a total of 6,300 jobs annually in the community. In addition, SMU directly employs 2,200 faculty and staff.

A total impact of $7 billion, including the above and expenditures by SMU’s 40,000 alumni in the DFW region.

Over a 20-year period, from 1995 through 2015, an impact of $2.2 billion resulting from capital projects in fulfillment of SMU’s master plan, including more than 40 new or renovated SMU buildings and facilities constructed thus far since 1995.

University resources valued at $4 billion, including an endowment of $1.2 billion, in addition to real estate, buildings and equipment; art and special collections; and other assets.

SMU President’s Scholars Alexandra Hill and Katrina Josephson have been chosen as 2009-10 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars. The Rotary Foundation has sponsored Ambassadorial Scholars since 1947, with key objectives being to “increase awareness of and respect for cultural differences by sending ambassadors of goodwill to study in another country” and to “develop leaders who can address the humanitarian needs of the world community.”

Hill, a senior double-major in international studies and electrical engineering in Dedman College and the Lyle School of Engineering, will study at the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland. Josephson, a senior political science and Spanish double major in Dedman College, will study at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales in the Dominican Republic.

The Cox School of Business hosted an economic roundtable for Dallas-area media in November 2008. Participants included Cox Dean Al Niemi, Brian Bruce (Alternative Asset Management Center, Cox School of Business), Nathan Balke (Economics, Dedman College) and Cox adjunct professor Harvey Rosenblum of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Read more from The Dallas Morning News.